WO2001093582A1

WO2001093582A1 - Broadcast providing method, broadcasting system, and broadcast receiver

Info

Publication number: WO2001093582A1
Application number: PCT/JP2000/008841
Authority: WO
Inventors: Akio Iijima; Takeshi Arimura
Original assignee: Dentsu Inc.; Sumitomo Corporation
Priority date: 2000-05-30
Filing date: 2000-12-14
Publication date: 2001-12-06
Also published as: AU2001218895A1; JP4783536B2

Abstract

A broadcast receiver (7) receives a program content and an advertisement content and variably sets the advertisement providing form in which the advertisement content is provided in accordance with the selection by the viewer. The advertisement providing form is preferably the amount of advertisements to be provided. According to the provided amount of advertisements, a viewing charge as a counter value of the viewing is set. According to the preset amount of advertisements, the program content along with the advertisement content is provided to the viewer, and the viewer is demanded for the viewing charge corresponding to the advertisement providing form. The viewer can select the amount of advertisements to be provided, and can thereby change the viewing charge. The advertisement providing form can be an advertisement display form or an advertisement arrangement form. The advertisement arrangement form includes designation of the position and time of an advertisement.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD Broadcast providing method, broadcast system and broadcast receiving device

The present invention relates to a broadcast providing method, and in particular, to a method for advertising program

The present invention relates to an improvement in an advertisement providing method when providing an advertisement to a viewer.

Background art.

In recent years, digital broadcasting technology has been developed, and plans to switch from conventional analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting are also in progress. In digital broadcasting, programs are broadcast using terrestrial waves or using satellites and cables. Digitization of broadcasting can improve image and sound quality and increase the number of channels. Furthermore, it is expected that various new services using digital technology will be provided.

By the way, conventional broadcasting can be roughly classified into free broadcasting and pay broadcasting. The relationship between the provision of advertising and the price of viewing is different between free and paid broadcasting.

In free broadcasting, instead of being able to watch the broadcast for free, advertisements are provided within and around the program. The sponsor fee paid by the advertiser covers program production costs and (2) other broadcasting costs (transmission costs). In a free broadcast, the viewer does not seem to pay for the viewing. However, in practice, the act of seeing an advertisement is equivalent to viewing the advertisement. It can be considered that the time to see the advertisement is the price for viewing.

On the other hand, in paid broadcasting, viewing fees are collected from viewers, but advertisements are not provided. The viewing fee covers program production costs and other broadcasting costs (transmission costs). This viewing fee is paid by the viewer as a consideration for receiving the program.

As described above, in conventional broadcasting, the relationship between advertisement provision and viewing value was only one of free broadcasting and paid broadcasting. Each program was basically either a free broadcast program or a paid broadcast program. In other words, the relationship between advertisement provision and viewing consideration was fixed for each program, leaving no room for viewers to choose.

On the other hand, if the viewer can select the relationship between advertisement provision and viewing price, It is thought that it can adapt to hope. In other words, it is possible to reflect the difference in how various viewers think about program viewing. Also, depending on the content of the program, the viewer may watch the flag with advertisement without paying the viewing fee, or vice versa. In addition, it is possible to select the way of viewing the program according to changes in the situation such as the financial situation and the schedule before and after viewing. If the viewers' requests can be realized in this way, improvement in serviceability can be expected. In particular, it would be possible to respond more appropriately to the demands of viewers if it were possible to flexibly change the relationship between advertisement provision and viewing value, rather than merely switching between free and paid broadcasting.

Here, one of the reasons why the relationship between advertisement provision and viewing price has been fixed so far is in the conventional analog broadcasting technology. Conventionally, a broadcasting station generates an analog broadcast signal in which a program and an advertisement are integrated. This analog broadcast signal is reproduced as it is on the receiver side. For this reason, advertisements had to be provided in a fixed form. However, in future digital broadcasting, programs and advertisements will be provided in the form of digital content. Therefore, it becomes possible to provide advertisements in various ways by digital data processing technology.

Further, the above situation can be similarly applied to content providing services other than broadcasting, such as communication-based games and communication karaoke. If the recipient can select the relationship between the advertisement and the consideration, it will be possible to appropriately adapt to the demands of the recipient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and a main object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast providing method capable of appropriately responding to the needs of viewers in the background of digital broadcasting of broadcast. This object is achieved by a combination of the features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous embodiments of the present invention. Disclosure of the invention

(1) One aspect of the present invention is a broadcast providing method for providing an advertisement content to a viewer together with a program content. According to this method, an advertisement providing form for providing advertisement contents is set according to the selection of the viewer, and the advertisement contents are provided together with the program contents according to the set advertisement providing form. The viewing price is set differently according to the type of advertisement provided. Viewing fees are typically paid This is the broadcast viewing fee. However, the viewing fee is not limited to the viewing fee. The viewing price may be, for example, a privilege given to a viewer who has watched the broadcast. ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the advertisement provision form is changed, and the viewing price is also changed accordingly. It can appropriately respond to the needs of viewers who want to save viewing fees instead of seeing advertisements.

(2) Preferably, as an advertisement providing form, the amount of provided advertisement, which is the amount of provided advertisement, is changed. The amount of advertisement provided and the viewing price are associated with each other. Preferably, in the method of the present invention, the program content and the advertising content group are separately acquired by the receiver, and the set advertising amount of the advertising content is added to the program content from the advertising content group. According to the present invention, the viewer can choose to reduce the viewing fee instead of increasing the amount of advertisement provided, or vice versa. In this way, the relationship between the provided amount and the viewing price can be changed, so that the viewer can select an appropriate viewing mode according to the concept and situation. ·

Preferably, the changeable advertisement provision amount includes no provision amount when the advertisement content is not provided. No provision is equivalent to a so-called conventional pay broadcast.

Preferably, any one of a plurality of stages of the amount of advertisement provided corresponding to a different viewing price is set according to the viewer's selection. For example, the amount of advertising provided will increase gradually, and the viewing fee will decrease accordingly. In this way, unlike conventional free broadcasts with advertisements and paid broadcasts without advertisements, it is possible to have a viewing style such as "pay a viewing fee that is appropriate for the amount of advertisement provided by viewing an appropriate amount of advertisements". Hope can be properly reflected.

Preferably, in the method of the present invention, an advertisement providing location is selected from a plurality of advertisement providing candidate locations preset in the program content in accordance with the amount of advertisement provided, and the advertisement content is provided at the advertisement providing location. . Preferably, the priorities of the plurality of advertisement providing candidate locations are set differently, and the advertisement providing candidate site with a higher priority is preferentially selected as the advertisement providing location. Preferably, the priority of each advertisement providing candidate is set differently according to the program content. ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the amount of advertisement provision can be controlled appropriately using the information of the advertisement provision candidate location. In particular, by using the priority, a given amount of advertisement can be placed at an appropriate place in the program content. It is preferable to set the priority in consideration of the advertising effect at each providing location. (3) In another aspect of the present invention, an advertisement display form, which is a form of displaying an advertisement content on a screen, is changed as the advertisement provision form. Advertisement display format and viewing price are associated with each other. Preferably, in the method of the present invention, the receiver separately acquires the program content and the advertisement content corresponding to the plurality of advertisement display modes, and adds the advertisement content corresponding to the set advertisement display mode to the program content.

In this aspect, the advertisement display form is associated with the viewing price. The consideration for viewing is set in consideration of the difference between the advertising effect and the advertising fee depending on the advertising display mode. For example, viewers can select an advertising display format that pays less for the viewing and vice versa. Therefore, the viewer can select an appropriate viewing mode according to the concept and situation.

Advertisement display modes include, for example, an interrupted display mode in which an advertisement is displayed on a screen by interrupting a program, and a partial display mode in which an advertisement is displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting the program. The interruption display form is, for example, a commercial. The partial display form corresponds to a so-called banner advertisement. The partial display mode may be a commercial display on a part of the screen.

(4) In another aspect of the present invention, an advertisement allocation form including a provision position and distribution of advertisement content is changed as an advertisement provision form. And the advertisement allocation form and the viewing price are correlated. Preferably, the method of the present invention causes the receiver to separately acquire the program & content and the advertisement content group, and adds the advertisement content to the program content according to the advertisement allocation mode.

In this aspect, the advertisement allocation form and the viewing price are related. The advertising effect differs depending on the type of advertisement allocation. For example, in the live broadcast of soccer, providing advertisements intensively during half-time and providing advertisements distributed throughout the game are considered to have a greater advertising effect. The viewing price is set based on such advertising effects. Viewers can choose the ad allocation form that pays less for the viewing and vice versa. Therefore, the viewer can select an appropriate viewing mode according to the way of thinking.

The advertisement allocation form includes, for example, a centralized allocation for providing the advertisement content in a specific location of the program content in a concentrated manner, and a distributed allocation for providing the advertisement content in a more distributed manner than the centralized allocation. (5) Preferably, the method of the present invention maintains a provision state when the advertisement content is provided so that the viewing of the advertisement content according to the advertisement provision form is achieved. For example, during advertisement provision, the fast-forward function of the receiver is suppressed.

(6) In addition, the method of the present invention may increase the viewing price to be paid by the viewer when the viewing of the advertising content according to the advertisement providing mode is not achieved. For example, viewers are charged a viewing fee when there is no advertisement. It is also preferable to provide guidance to increase viewing value in response to an operation such as a channel change by a viewer, so that appropriate services can be provided.

(7) In the method of the present invention, when the viewer selects to stop providing the program content, the advertisement content that has not been provided may be intensively provided. This allows viewers to pay for what they originally thought of, even if they stop watching the program.

The invention is not limited to the method embodiments described above. Another embodiment of the present invention is, for example, a broadcasting system, a broadcast receiving device, a broadcast support device, or a charging device. The charging device is a viewer charging device or an advertiser charging device. Another embodiment of the present invention is a program recording medium, which records a program for providing the above broadcast.

Further, the present invention is suitable for the above-mentioned broadcasting service, and a great advantage can be obtained if the advertisement providing form and the viewing price can be balanced according to the demand of the viewer. However, the present invention may be applied to a content providing service other than broadcasting. That is, an aspect of the present invention is a content providing method for providing an advertisement content to a provider together with the content to be added with an advertisement, and the advertisement providing mode in which the advertisement content is provided is determined according to the selection of the provider. In accordance with the set advertisement providing mode, the advertisement content is provided together with the content to be added with the advertisement, and a different provision fee is imposed on the recipient in accordance with the previously set advertisement providing mode. The advertisement addition target content is, for example, a communication-based game, is, for example, a communication color content, and is, for example, a car navigation content. ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, an advertisement provision form is changed and the provision consideration | change is also changed with it. It can respond appropriately to the demands of the recipients, such as wanting to save on the provision instead of seeing the advertisement. Regarding the provision of these contents, the present invention is not limited to the above-described method. Another embodiment of the present invention is, for example, a content providing system, a content receiving device, a content providing support device, or a charging device. The billing device is a provider billing device or an advertiser billing device. Another embodiment of the present invention is a program recording medium for recording a program for realizing the above-described content provision. Further, the various aspects described in relation to the provision of the broadcast can be similarly applied to the provision of the content.

The above summary of the present invention does not list all of the necessary features of the present invention, and a sub-combination of these features may also be an invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 is a diagram of a configuration example of a digital broadcasting system using satellites.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen for a viewer to select an advertisement providing amount as an advertisement providing form.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen for a viewer to select an advertisement display mode as an advertisement providing mode.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen for a viewer to select an advertisement allocation mode as an advertisement providing mode.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a broadcasting system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing candidate locations for providing advertisements as configuration information.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a process of determining an advertisement providing location from advertisement providing candidate locations. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the advertisement providing candidate locations.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the advertisement providing candidate locations.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the provision of advertisements during on-time viewing.

Figure 11 is a diagram showing the provision of advertisements during on-time viewing without creating a dropout in a program.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a broadcasting system corresponding to the advertisement provision of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration for coping with an unachieved advertisement viewing.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration for coping with interruption of program viewing halfway.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a process of changing the amount of banner advertisement provided. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an advertisement providing candidate portion as configuration setting information used for a banner advertisement.

FIG. 17 is a view for explaining viewing privileges as viewing consideration.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration for controlling the amount of advertisement when the broadcasting station combines the advertisement content with the program content.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a configuration for controlling the amount of advertisement when the broadcast station combines the advertisement content with the program content. .

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a broadcast system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a screen for a viewer to select an advertisement provision amount and an advertisement display mode.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a broadcasting system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing advertisement catching point information as configuration setting information used in the system of FIG.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a screen for a viewer to select an advertisement provision amount and an advertisement allocation mode.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a content providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the present invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention relating to the term, and all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments. It is not always essential to the solution of the invention.

First, an outline of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a broadcast system 1 according to the present embodiment. The broadcasting system 1 includes a broadcasting station 3, a satellite 5 (can be a communication satellite or a broadcasting satellite), and a receiving device 7. Broadcasting station 1 sends the digital broadcasting signal to receiving device 7 via satellite 5. The receiving device 7 is communicably connected to the broadcasting station 5. The communication means may be a public line, the Internet, or any other type. The receiving device 7 transmits the broadcast viewing actual data to the broadcasting station 5. Actual and performance data are used to collect viewing and advertising fees. Note that the present invention is not limited to digital satellite broadcasting, but can be applied to any type of broadcasting. The present invention is applicable to, for example, terrestrial broadcasting, cable television, Internet broadcasting, and mobile telephone broadcasting. Also, the present invention is not limited to broadcast-type broadcasting. The present invention is also applied to broadcasting of a type that provides a program in response to a request from a receiving side, so-called on-demand broadcasting. Further, the present invention is not limited to television broadcasting, but is also applicable to, for example, radio broadcasting.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, broadcast station 1 sends program content and advertisement content as digital broadcast signals. Advertising content is sent separately from program content. In the present embodiment, the advertising content is sent using an advertising-only channel. The receiving device 5 combines and reproduces the program content and the advertising content. However, the advertising content need not be sent on the advertising-only channel as described above. It can be sent using the channel that broadcasts the program. Further, the receiving device 5 may obtain the advertisement content by another means. For example, terrestrial waves or internet may be used.

By the way, as a feature of the present embodiment, in the system of FIG. 1, an advertisement providing form is changed according to a viewer's selection. The viewing price is set differently according to the type of advertisement provided.

The advertisement providing form is a form in which the advertisement content is provided, that is, when, where, how much, and how the advertisement content is provided. Of course, all of these elements need not be changed within the scope of the present invention, that is, only some of the elements need to be changed.

In addition, the viewing fee is typically a viewing fee, and the following explanation will also take the viewing fee as the viewing fee. However, the viewing fee is not limited to the viewing fee. Depending on the viewing price, the viewer does not pay the viewing price and receives it. For example, the viewing price may be a privilege given to the viewer by viewing the advertisement. This privilege is, for example, a program-related product, or, for example, a discount providing service for another program.

In the present embodiment, “advertising amount”, “advertising display mode”, and “advertising allocation mode” are processed as the advertising mode. Hereinafter, each embodiment will be described individually.

"Ad serving volume" Figure 2 shows an example of a screen for the viewer to select the amount of advertisement provided. This screen is displayed on the receiving device. At the top of the screen, the name of the program that the viewer wants to watch is displayed. In addition, options for the number of advertisements to be added to the program are displayed. This number of advertisements is one form of the advertisement provision amount. The viewing fee corresponding to each number of advertisements is also displayed. The higher the number of advertisements, the lower the viewing fee.

For example, assume that a viewer has selected 24 ads. In this case, as shown in the right half of FIG. 2, four advertisement contents are provided in six slots, that is, a total of 24 advertisement contents are provided. Then, a viewing fee of 900 yen is charged to the viewer. On the other hand, suppose the viewer selects no advertisement. In this case, as shown in the right half of FIG. 2, the program content is displayed without inserting an advertisement.

In addition, in FIG. 2, four levels of advertisement provision amounts can be selected, but the number of advertisement provision levels may be different. Also, the stage may not be set. The number of advertisements may be changed in units of one, and the viewing fee may be changed accordingly.

Also, the amount of advertisement provided may be expressed by a parameter other than the number of advertisements. For example, the advertisement providing time may be used as the advertisement providing amount.

In addition, on the screen of FIG. 2, either the number of advertisements or the viewing fee may be displayed. In the present invention, the selection of the viewing fee can be regarded as being equivalent to the selection of the number of advertisements. Also, the viewing fee does not have to be shown as an absolute amount as shown in Figure 2. For example, a discount amount or a discount rate based on the fee when there is no advertisement may be presented. In addition, Figure 2 assumes a type of advertisement that is inserted after a program is interrupted, typically a commercial. On the other hand, the present invention is applicable to an advertisement of a type displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting the program. This type of advertisement is typically a so-called banner ad. Preferably, one of a plurality of stages of the number of banners is selected by the viewer. The selected number of banner ads are displayed in a specific area of the screen. The number of banners may be two levels (with or without).

The number of banners described above is also one form of the amount of advertisement provided. However, for banner advertisements, parameters other than the number of banners can be considered as the amount of advertisement provided. For example, one area of a banana can be used as the amount of advertisement provided. The larger the banner area, the lower the viewing fee. Of course, the advertisement displayed on a part of the screen may be a commercial.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the amount of advertisement provided can be changed, and the viewing fee differs according to the amount of advertisement provided. Viewers can choose to lower their viewing rates instead of increasing their advertising volume, or vice versa.

Further, in the present embodiment, the selectable advertisement providing amount may be in two stages: no advertisement (with viewing fee) and advertisement (without viewing fee). Simple pay broadcasting and free broadcasting correspond to configurations that can be selected. However, in comparison with such two-stage switching, in the above-described embodiment, not only the option of paying the full viewing fee for not viewing the advertisement, but also the fact that the advertisement is included can be viewed at a lower price. it can. At this time, it is advantageous in that the viewer can independently determine the ratio of advertisements, and respond appropriately to the viewer's wishes.

"Ad display format"

FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen for a viewer to select an advertisement display mode. This screen is displayed on the receiving device. At the top of the screen, the name of the program that the viewer wants to view is displayed. In addition, interrupt display and partial display are set as options for the advertisement display format. The interruption display is a form in which the program is interrupted and only the advertisement is displayed on the screen (corresponding to a conventional television commercial). Partial display is a form in which an advertisement is displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting the program (so-called banner advertisement). Of course, the partial display may be a form in which a commercial is displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting the program. In addition, the screen displays the viewing fee corresponding to each option. Here, the viewing fee for some displays is set higher than the interrupted display. When the viewer selects a display mode, the advertisement content is provided according to the display mode. Then, the viewing fee corresponding to the display mode is charged to the viewer.

This aspect focuses on the fact that the advertising effect and the advertising fee differ depending on the advertising display mode. Focusing on advertising rates, we assume that advertising rates for banner ads are relatively low. In this case, the viewing fee is set higher when the display format is a banner advertisement. From the viewer's point of view, when a banner ad is selected, the program is not interrupted even though a part of the screen is always blocked by the ad. Instead, the viewing fee is higher. The viewer can select an appropriate advertisement display form while considering the viewing fee.

In the example of FIG. 3, an option to execute both the interrupt display and the partial display (banner) may be provided. The viewing fee in this case is set lower than other viewing fees. Further, an option of not displaying an advertisement may be set.

"Ad allocation type"

FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen for the viewer to select an advertisement allocation mode. This screen is displayed on the receiving device. At the top of the screen, the name of the program that the viewer wants to view is displayed. Further, a plurality of options of the advertisement allocation form are displayed. The advertisement allocation form includes the placement and distribution of advertisement content. Here, centralized allocation and decentralized allocation are set as the advertisement allocation mode. With centralized allocation, advertising content is provided intensively at specific locations in the program content. For example, in the case of a soccer relay, before and after the program, and no-off time are set in the centralized provision location. In distributed allocation, advertising content is distributed to more locations than centralized allocation. Furthermore, on the screen in Fig. 4, the viewing fee corresponding to each option is displayed. Here, the viewing fee of the distributed allocation is set lower than the centralized allocation. When the viewer selects the allocation mode, the advertisement content is provided according to the split mode. Then, the viewing fee corresponding to the allocation form is charged to the viewer.

This aspect focuses on the fact that the advertisement effect differs depending on the advertisement allocation mode. In the above example, distributed allocation is considered to have a higher advertising effect than centralized allocation. This is because ads are provided during the soccer game. Therefore, the viewing fee for distributed allocation is set at a discount, and the advertising fee is set higher accordingly. For viewers, choosing distributed allocation would interrupt the game due to advertising. You can choose whether or not to choose a low fee even if the advertisement is interrupted. In this way, the viewer can select an appropriate advertisement allocation form while considering the viewing fee.

Note that the form of advertisement allocation is not limited to the above-described centralized allocation and distributed allocation. For example, in sports broadcasting, it is preferable to be able to select whether to increase the advertisement distribution in the first half of the game or increase the advertisement distribution in the second half of the game. Assuming that the advertising effect in the first half of the game is low, for example, it is conceivable to set a higher viewing fee for the first-weighted allocation. As described above, in the present embodiment, the viewer can independently change the relationship between the advertisement provision mode and the viewing price. Each viewer has a different way of thinking about viewing. In addition, the situation such as the financial situation and the allowance for the action schedule differs depending on the audience. The situation changes with the same audience. As in the present embodiment, the viewer can select an appropriate advertisement providing form and viewing price according to the individual's idea and situation. Therefore, it is possible to reflect the needs of the viewers in the viewing format, and expect improved serviceability. In the above description, “Advertising amount”, “Advertising display mode” and “Advertising allocation mode” were described individually. Of course, the system may be configured so that these two or three can be changed at the same time.

"System configuration"

Next, a more specific configuration of the system for realizing the above invention will be described. In this system, the amount of advertisement provided is controlled as an advertisement provision mode.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the broadcast system of the present embodiment. The broadcast system 1 mainly includes a broadcast station 3, a satellite 5, and a broadcast receiver 7. The broadcast station 3 sends a broadcast signal to the receiving device 7 via the satellite 5. The receiving device 7 and the broadcasting station 3 are connected by communication means such as a public line. The broadcast station 3 includes a program broadcast device 10, an advertisement broadcast device 12, and a viewer.Advertiser billing device 30 (hereinafter, billing device 30), and these components are communicably connected. The program broadcast device 10, the advertisement broadcast device 12, and the charge device 30 may not be provided in one broadcasting station 3, but may be provided separately. For example, the program broadcasting apparatus 10 and the advertisement broadcasting apparatus 12 may be separated, and the charging apparatus 30 may be outside the broadcasting station 3.

First, the program broadcast device 10 and the advertisement broadcast device 20 will be described. The program broadcast device 10 has a program content storage unit 12 that stores the program content together with the program ID. The program broadcast schedule creating section 14 creates a schedule for transmitting the program content stored in the turn and content storage section 12. The program broadcast device 10 sends out the program content together with the program ID according to the program broadcast schedule. There are no advertisements in the program signal.

On the other hand, the advertisement broadcasting device 20 is an advertisement that stores advertisement contents together with an advertisement ID. It has a content storage unit 22. The advertisement broadcast schedule creation unit 24 creates a schedule for transmitting the advertisement content stored in the advertisement content storage unit 22. The advertisement broadcast device 20 sends out the advertisement content together with the advertisement ID according to the advertisement broadcast schedule.

The advertisement broadcasting device 20 further includes a configuration setting information creation unit 26. This form setting information creation unit 26 functions as the broadcast support device of the present invention. Note that the configuration setting information creating section 26 may be provided in the program broadcasting device 10 or may be provided in another place. The configuration setting information creation unit 26 may be provided outside the broadcast station as a broadcast support device. The broadcast support device has a function as an advertisement sales system.

The configuration setting information creation unit 26 obtains a program broadcasting schedule from the program broadcasting device 10 and creates configuration setting information based on the program broadcasting schedule. The configuration setting information is used to change the advertisement providing mode on the receiving device side, and in particular, in the present embodiment, is used to change the advertisement providing amount.

FIG. 6 shows an example of configuration setting information for changing the amount of advertisement provided. Program schedules such as program names, program start and end times are obtained from the program broadcasting device. The configuration setting information creation unit 26 sets a plurality of advertisement providing candidate locations in the program. In addition, each advertisement providing candidate is assigned a priority. In addition, each advertisement provision candidate location is provided with an advertisement ID indicating advertisement content to be provided at that location. For example, each candidate has three advertising IDs. This information is used to control the amount of advertisement provided on the receiving side. The number of ad serving points corresponding to the amount of ad serving is selected as the actual ad serving point. The processing on the receiving side will be described later.

The configuration setting information, that is, the advertisement providing candidate portion, the priority, and the designated advertisement ID are sent to the program broadcasting device 10. In the program broadcasting device 10, the configuration setting information adding section 16 adds (synthesizes) configuration setting information to the broadcasted program signal. For example, time information indicating a program elapsed time is included in the program information. When the time information corresponding to each provided catching point is detected, the morphological setting information is multiplexed and superimposed on that position. As a result, a program signal to which the configuration information is added in synchronization with the time information in the form of FIG. 6 is generated. This turn signal is broadcast via the satellite 5 as described above. What Note that the configuration information is also added to the beginning of the program.

Next, the broadcast receiving device 7 will be described. The broadcast receiving device 7 has an input device 40, a display 42, and a speed 44. These components may be integrated with the broadcast receiving device 7.

Further, the broadcast receiving device 7 has a receiving unit 46, a program content storage unit 48, and an advertisement content storage unit 50. The receiving unit 46 receives the program content together with the program ID, and receives the advertisement content together with the advertisement ID. In the present embodiment, the advertising content is sequentially sent through an advertising-only channel. The program content is written in the storage unit 48 together with the program ID. The advertisement content is written in the storage unit 50 together with the advertisement ID.

The update processing unit 52 compares the received advertisement ID of the advertisement content with the advertisement ID of the advertisement content in the advertisement content storage unit 5.0. Then, when the same advertisement ID is not in the storage unit 50, the received advertisement content is written in the storage unit 50. The provided program setting section 54 sets the program content to be provided from the program content stored in the program content storage section 48. The provided program setting unit 54 presents a list of stored programs on the display 42, and accepts selection of a program by a viewer. The viewer uses the input device 40 to specify a program. The program to be provided is set according to this specification.

Next, the advertisement provision amount setting unit 56 is an embodiment of the advertisement provision mode setting unit of the present invention. The advertisement provision amount setting unit 56 presents a screen for selecting the advertisement provision amount, for example, the screen of FIG. 2 to the viewer, and accepts the viewer's selection. The setting unit 56 sets the amount of advertisement provided according to the selection of the viewer.

The provision processing unit 58 provides the advertisement content of the advertisement provision amount set by the provision amount setting unit 56 together with the program content. The display 42 and the speaker 44 are used for providing the program.

The function of the provision processing unit 58 will be described with reference to the example of FIG. The upper part of FIG. 7 is the same as that of FIG. 6, and shows ten advertisement providing candidate locations. Each of the candidate advertisement locations has four designated advertisement IDs. Therefore, for example, when the advertisement provision amount is 16, the advertisement provision amount can be achieved by using four advertisement provision candidates. Therefore, Figure 7 As shown in the middle row, the four high-priority candidate sites for providing advertisements are selected as the sites that actually provide advertisements. Here, the candidate places from the first to the fourth place are validated as provision places, and the remaining provision places are invalidated.

The provision processing unit 58 reads from the storage unit 50 the advertisement content corresponding to the advertisement ID attached to the selected advertisement provision location. At the place where the advertisement is provided, the output of the program content is interrupted and the advertisement content is output. Program content is automatically paused (pause). When the output of the advertising content ends, the program content is output again. As shown in the lower part of Fig. 7, the program content is provided after the insertion of the advertising content. As described above, the advertisement processing amount is controlled by the provision processing unit 58.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the amount of advertisement provided and the viewing fee change in conjunction with each other, whereby it is possible to provide a viewing mode that meets the wishes of the viewer, and it is possible to improve serviceability.

Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to appropriately control the amount of advertisement provided by using the information on the advertisement providing candidate portions, and to arrange the advertisement content of the given amount of advertisement provided in an appropriate place.

In particular, the priority (priority) is suitable for arranging advertisement content at an appropriate position. In the example of Fig. 6, the candidate places in each rank are set at positions away from the higher-order candidate places (between the two higher-order candidate places, provided that they are appropriately separated from both sides; Of course, it is not necessary to be in the middle.) Specifically, the first candidate location is located at the beginning of the program, and the second candidate location is located at the end of the program. The third place is located in between the first and second place. The 4th and 5th candidate locations are also separated from the 1st and 2nd candidate locations. With such an arrangement, the advertisement providing locations can be appropriately distributed.

However, if the candidate locations are dispersed too much, the force, or rather the gap between the candidate locations, becomes narrow. Adjustments that take this point into account have been made for the 6th to 8th candidate locations. These candidate locations are located at the beginning and end of the program. This also takes into account that even if there are many advertisements at the beginning and end of a program, viewers generally do not feel bothered. In addition, the ninth and higher candidate locations are located in the middle, away from the higher-level candidate locations, as described above.

It is needless to say that other various settings can be made for the priority. In consideration of the advertising effect of each candidate location, it is also preferable to give a higher priority to locations having a high advertising effect. The setting of the priority will be further described later.

In the present embodiment, the provision processing unit 58 further includes a provision state maintaining unit 60. The provision state maintaining unit 60 maintains the provision state when the advertisement content is provided. For example, the fast forward playback function is restricted (locked). The reception of the fast-forward operation on the input device 40 by the viewer may be suppressed.

By maintaining the state of provision, advertising content can be reliably provided to viewers. In the present embodiment, originally, the viewing fee is set low instead of providing the advertising content. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid a situation where the advertisement content is not viewed even though the viewing fee is reduced.

The broadcast receiving device 7 further includes a viewing result record processing unit 62, a viewing result storage unit 64, and a viewing result notification unit 66. The viewing result record processing unit 62 writes the viewing result information of the program content and the advertising content into the viewing result storage unit 64. The viewing result notifying section 66 periodically reads the viewing result information and transmits it to the charging device 30. The viewing result information includes the program ID of the viewed program content, the amount of advertisement provided at the time of viewing each program, and the advertisement ID of the advertisement content provided with each program.

Next, the viewer / advertiser charging device 30 (charging device 30) will be described. The billing device 30 has an advertisement information management function and also has a function as an advertisement sales system. The billing device 30 receives the viewing result information from the broadcast receiving device 7. The viewing result information is acquired by the viewing result acquisition unit 32 and written into the viewing result database 33. The viewer charging processor 34 charges the viewer for the viewing fee based on the amount of advertisement provided, using the viewing result information. The program that the viewer has watched and the amount of advertisement provided by that program are required. Then, a viewing fee corresponding to the amount of advertisement provided is charged. The billing information is written in the viewer billing database 35.

On the other hand, the advertiser billing processing unit 36 uses the viewing result information and To charge the advertiser for the advertising fee. The viewing result information indicates the advertising content provided in each program. Therefore, the number of times each advertisement content is provided is calculated periodically. Based on the viewing result information obtained from all viewers, the total number of provisions in the broadcasting system is obtained. Then, an advertisement fee corresponding to the number of times of provision is calculated. The advertising fee is written in the advertiser billing database 37 in association with the advertiser.

The billing device 30 reads the billing information from the viewer database 35 at an appropriate timing, and performs processing for charging and collecting the viewing fee from the viewer. Similarly, the billing device 30 reads out the billing information from the advertiser database 37 at an appropriate timing, and executes a process for collecting the advertising fee from the advertiser. As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing the charging device, it is possible to reliably execute the process of charging the viewing fee and the advertising fee corresponding to the variably set advertisement providing mode.

"Candidates for advertising"

In the above embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the priority of the advertisement providing candidate points and each candidate point in the program is set. It is preferable that these settings be made different depending on the program type and content.

Figure 8 is an example of an advertisement provision candidate location set for each of the two types of program content. The upper part of Fig. 8 shows candidate locations for providing baseball broadcast advertisements. In baseball broadcasting, it is assumed that an advertisement providing candidate location is set every time the offense and defense change. In this case, as shown in the figure, the number of advertisement providing candidate locations increases. On the other hand, the number of advertisements at each candidate location is set low. In baseball broadcasting, the priorities in the second half are set higher than those in the first half. Here, it is assumed that the advertising effectiveness in the second half is high, and the priority of places with high power and high advertising effectiveness is set high. In an actual system, priority should be set appropriately in consideration of advertising effectiveness and other factors.

On the other hand, the lower part of Fig. 8 shows candidate locations for providing movie program advertisements. In movie programs, under the assumption that it is not desirable for the program to be interrupted by advertisements, the number of candidates for advertisement provision is relatively small and set in a distributed manner. On the other hand, the number of advertisements at each candidate location is set high.

Figure 9 shows an example where it is preferable to change the priority even for the same program content. Is shown. The program content in Fig. 9 is a baseball broadcast. In actual baseball broadcasts, there are close games and one-side games. In the case of a close battle, the priority of the advertisement provision candidate part in the second half is set high under the assumption that the advertisement provision effect in the second half is large. On the other hand, in the case of a one-side game, the priority of the advertisement providing candidate portion in the first half is set high. Considering the relatively high probability that viewers will stop watching in the first half, many ads will be offered in the first half.

It is preferable to further adjust the priority according to the detailed contents of the game. For example, after a reversal home run, the advertising effect is likely to be high. Therefore, after the reversal home run, the priority of the location where the advertisement is to be provided is set high. With these settings, ads can be offered in places where advertising is effective.

Here, the priority of the place where the advertisement effect is high is set high, but in actuality, the priority may be appropriately set in consideration of the advertisement effect and other factors.

In addition, it is considered difficult to adjust the priorities as described above during baseball broadcasting. Therefore, first, the program content may be broadcasted during a baseball broadcast or the like, and the information (configuration information) of the advertisement providing candidate location and the priority may be transmitted later. Standard information may be sent first (during live broadcast), and adjusted information may be sent later. On the receiving side, the adjusted information is used together with the program content. Both may be synthesized or processed separately.

As shown in the above example, within the scope of the present invention, the configuration information may be transmitted separately from the program content. Further, the configuration information may be sent via a communication means different from the broadcast, for example, a public line or the Internet (the same applies to other configuration information).

Also, within the scope of the present invention, the configuration information need not include priority information. That is, the advertisement providing candidate location is sent to the receiving device without being given a priority. On the receiving side, the number of advertisement provision sites is selected from the advertisement provision candidates according to the setting of the advertisement provision amount.

In this selection processing, an advertisement providing part is selected according to a predetermined rule. For example, when selecting an offer, select a location that is farther away from the earlier selected offer (preferably as far away as possible). As a result, Then, the same selection result as that obtained by using the priority in FIG. 6 is obtained.

In the selection process, the characteristics of the viewer may be considered. According to the characteristics of the viewer, a candidate location with high relevance to the viewer is selected from a plurality of candidate locations. For example, suppose that the opposing teams are A and B teams in a baseball game. Ad serving locations are selected based on the strength of the audience as a fan of which team, and the game content (eg, who is winning).

As a further modified example, the advertisement providing candidate location may not be set on the transmission side. An advertisement providing location is appropriately determined on the receiving device side. For example, the number of places to be provided according to the amount of advertisement provided is required. This number of provision points is set at equal intervals in the program.

"Recording and on-time viewing"

In the above embodiment, the program content was once stored in the storage unit, and then read out from the storage unit and viewed. That is, recording and viewing were performed. In this recording and viewing, a large number of programs (or all programs) may be stored. The program desired to be viewed is selected from the program contents in the storage device. Alternatively, the program to be recorded may be specified by the viewer. Here, recording may be reserved.

When specifying a recorded program, the advertisement provision amount may be set at the time of the specification. Furthermore, in this case, the program content and the advertisement content may be combined at the recording stage. That is, when the program content is received, the provision processing unit analyzes an advertisement provision catch point and the like, and combines the program content with the advertisement content (see FIG. 7). The combined program data is recorded in the storage device. This program data is read from the storage device by the provision processing unit and output.

The program may be watched on-time without being limited to recording and viewing. Here, on-time viewing means watching the program on the receiving side during the broadcast time of the program. In other words, it refers to a viewing mode in which the broadcast time and the viewing time are not time-shifted. On the other hand, the broadcast time and the viewing time are time-shifted in recording and viewing. Real-time viewing refers to viewing in which the broadcast reception time and output time substantially coincide, and is a form of on-time viewing. The following two forms of on-time viewing can be considered.

FIG. 10 shows one form of on-time viewing. When the content is received It is output immediately in real time. The program is running simultaneously while the advertising content is being inserted. As a result, part of the program is skipped as a result without being output, and falls off.

Figures 11 and 12 illustrate another form of on-time viewing. In the system of FIG. 12, a delay storage unit 68 used for on-time viewing is provided. The delay storage unit 68 temporarily stores the received program content. Note that the program content storage device may be used as the storage unit for delay.

Referring to FIG. 11, program content is initially output in real time. At the advertisement providing location, the advertising content is read from the storage device and output. The program data while the advertisement content is being output is stored in the delay storage unit 68. When the output of the advertisement content is completed, the program data is read from the delay storage unit 68 and output. The program resumes where it left off before the advertisement was served. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the use of the delay storage unit makes it possible to provide the entire program to the viewer without making the program skip even during on-time viewing.

Also, as another modified example of the present embodiment, the advertising content storage device on the receiving side may be abolished. In this case, the advertising content is provided on-time. At this time, the program may be recorded or viewed on-time. The advertising content may be obtained by communication means other than broadcasting.

The above-described configuration related to recording / viewing and on-time viewing is similarly applicable to other embodiments described later.

"Unachieved ad viewing"

In the above embodiment, during the provision of the advertising content, the fast-forward function is suppressed in order to maintain the provision state. As a result, reliable viewing of advertising content is achieved. However, it is also possible that the viewing of the advertising content is not achieved for some reason. For example, when a viewer forcibly stops viewing a program. Assuming such a case, in the present embodiment, non-achievement of advertisement viewing is detected, and the following processing is performed.

FIG. 13 shows a part of the broadcast receiving apparatus in the system of FIG. FIG. 13 particularly shows the viewing result recording unit 62. The viewing record section 6 2 It includes a viewing unachieved determination section 70, an unachieved information recording processing section 72, and an unachieved guidance processing section 74. The viewing unachieved determination unit 70 determines that the viewing of the advertisement content has not been actually achieved. For example, when the channel is changed in the middle of the turn, it is determined that the advertisement content has not been viewed at that time. This determination result is written to the viewing result storage unit 64 by the unachieved information recording processing unit 72, and is notified to the charging device by the viewing result notification unit 64. Viewing fees are set to increase if advertising viewing is not achieved. For example, unachieved viewing fees are set equal to unadvertised viewing fees. This viewing fee is charged to the viewer by the charging device. Also, a viewing fee corresponding to the amount of advertisement provided (the number of ads) viewed up to the time of the channel change may be charged.

The unachieved guidance processing unit 74 notifies the viewer of the proposed message based on the determination result of the unachieved determination unit 70. The unfulfilled announcement is notified before the actual viewing of the advertisement ends. For example, when a channel change is instructed by a viewer, a guide is displayed on a display before the device switches the channel. The unfulfilled announcement informs the viewer that changing the channel will result in an extra charge. Unachieved information may be a warning. If the channel switching is instructed again ignoring the guidance, the channel is actually switched.

Figure 14 shows another configuration example that takes into account the failure to provide advertisements. FIG. 14 shows a part of the broadcast receiving apparatus in the system of FIG. 5, and particularly shows the providing processing unit 58. The provision processing unit 58 is provided with a provision suspension determination unit 76 and a remaining advertisement concentrated provision processing unit 78. The provision suspension determination unit 76 determines that suspension of program provision has been instructed by operating the input device. When the provision suspension is determined, the remaining advertisement centralized provision processing unit 78 reads out all the advertisement contents to be provided in the program from the storage device, and provides the contents continuously and intensively. As a result, even if the viewing of the program ends prematurely, the viewing of the advertising content can be achieved. In the present embodiment, originally, instead of providing the advertising content, the viewing fee is set low. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the advertisement content is not viewed even though the viewing fee is reduced.

Note that both the configurations of FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 may be provided in the receiving device. In program offer When the stoppage is instructed, the user is first informed of the extra charge, and at the same time, asked to provide the remaining advertisement. When the viewer instructs to provide the remaining advertisement, the advertisement that has not been provided is output according to the instruction. If the viewer ignores the guidance, an extra fee will be charged.

In addition, the configuration related to the unsatisfied viewing of the advertisement can be similarly provided to other embodiments described later.

"Providing Detailed Information"

In a further modification of the present embodiment, detailed information of the advertising content is provided. Suppose a viewer wants to know the detailed information of an advertisement content while viewing the advertisement content. The viewer instructs the input device to display detailed information of the advertising content. In response to this instruction, the receiving device displays the detailed information of the advertising content on the display.

The detailed information is, for example, a description of an advertisement target (such as a product) of the advertisement content. The detailed information may be information on the purchase of the advertising target. The advertising target may be purchased using the detailed information screen. When a viewer makes a purchase request on the detailed information screen, the purchase request is sent to a broadcasting station or the like via communication. Purchase offers may be sent directly to advertisers.

The detailed information may be received by the receiving device together with the program content. The detailed information may be sent using a data broadcast signal multiplexed on the program signal. Alternatively, the detailed information may be obtained separately from the broadcast. For example, information on the source of information on the Internet is added to a broadcast signal. Detailed information is obtained from this information source.

Note that, as described above, the present invention is also applicable to banner advertisements. It is preferable to display the detailed information in the same manner when the banner advertisement is selected by the viewer. Further, the provision of the detailed information is similarly applicable to other embodiments described later.

"Ad Content Priority"

In the above embodiment, the broadcast station has previously determined the advertisement content to be added to the program content. On the other hand, the advertising content may be decided on the receiving device side. The receiving device selects the advertisement content from the advertisement content stored in the storage device. Choose a length.

In order to select appropriate advertising content, it is preferable to give a priority (priority, weight, etc.) to the advertising content in the storage device. High priority advertising content is selected first.

The priority is determined based on, for example, the following factors. (I) An advertising broadcast contract period is set for the advertising content. The shorter the remaining days of the contract period, the higher the priority.

(ii) Also, the number of advertising broadcast contracts is set for the advertising content. The higher the remaining number of contracts, the higher the priority. (Iii) Viewer attribute information is prepared in the receiving device. Further, information of the advertisement target is acquired together with the advertisement content. The higher the degree of matching between the audience attributes and the advertising targets, the higher the priority. (Iv) It is preferable to keep the same advertisement content broadcast interval. Therefore, the higher the elapsed time since the previous broadcast, the higher the priority. (V) Since the needs differ for each advertiser, the appropriate broadcast time differs for each advertising content. Therefore, if the broadcast time is appropriate for the advertising content, the priority is increased. (Vi) The higher the audience's interest and interest in the genre to which the advertisement belongs, the higher the priority. Here, too, information from the viewer profile is used. These processes include: Japanese patent application: Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-53330, which was invented by the inventor and filed separately by the present applicant, and an international application with Japan as the receiving Office. : The technique described in PC TZ JP 00 0 03 103 can be suitably applied.

Further, the advertising fee may be different depending on the advertising content. The higher the advertising content, the higher the priority of the advertising content. In the present embodiment, the number of advertisements provided is limited by the setting of the advertisement provision amount. In this case, the advertiser who pays a high advertising fee can be left.

Note that even if the advertisement content (advertisement ID) is specified on the broadcast station side, the specified advertisement may not be prepared in the storage device on the receiving device side. Also in this case, it is preferable to determine the advertisement to be provided based on the priority using the above processing. Further, the processing using the above-mentioned priorities can be similarly applied to other embodiments described later.

ΓProgram unit, contract unit J The unit of the number need not be particularly limited by time. Depending on the channel,

One program may not be broadcast on one channel. For example, a music channel that simply broadcasts a variety of music in sequence. These channels do not have a program framework, and the channels are not separated by program frames. In such a case, the entire channel is considered to be one program.

In the above-described embodiment, the broadcast providing form (broadcast providing amount) is set for each program. However, the broadcasting format does not have to be set for each program. The broadcast providing form may be set in units of a plurality of programs, may be set in units of one day, may be set in units of week or month, or may be set in any other standard. The viewer may select and set the broadcast providing mode for each type of program.

These items can be similarly applied to other embodiments described later.

"Banner ads"

In the above embodiment, an advertisement of a type in which a program is interrupted and displayed is assumed. On the other hand, as described above, the present invention can be applied to banner advertisements. For example, you can select (1) the ability to see without advertisements at 100,000 yen, and (2) the ability to see with a banner always below the screen at 700 yen. The fee may be changed according to the number of banners. The banner area may be variable, and the fee may be changed according to the area. Furthermore, the fee may be changed according to the position of the banner.

The upper part of Fig. 15 shows an example of a screen for the viewer to select the number of banners as the amount of advertisement provided. A plurality of banners are displayed, and a viewing fee corresponding to each banner is shown. If three banners are selected, three banner advertisements will be displayed on the screen as shown in the lower part of Figure 15. Banner ads are exchanged after an appropriate time has elapsed.

FIG. 16 shows an example of configuration information when a banner advertisement is used. As described above, the configuration information is generated on the transmitting side. The configuration setting information is information used for controlling the advertisement providing mode on the receiving side, and is particularly used in the present embodiment for controlling the amount of advertisement provided. The configuration information includes a plurality of advertisement providing candidate locations. The advertisement providing candidate location is a candidate for a location for displaying a banner advertisement. Each offer candidate Priority is assigned to each location. The advertisement ID of the advertisement content to be displayed there is assigned to each candidate location. This advertising ID changes periodically during the program.

"Skip selection for each advertising content"

In the present embodiment, the amount of advertisement provided may be changed, and the viewing fee may be changed accordingly. Within this range, various embodiments are further conceivable.

For example, immediately before providing the advertising content, the viewer is inquired each time whether or not he / she can skip the advertising content. If the viewer selects skip, the advertising content will not be provided. On the other hand, if skip is not selected by the viewer, the advertisement is offered. This process is repeated until the end of the program. Then, the viewer is charged a viewing fee according to the number of times the advertisement is provided. The number of times of provision is sent to the billing device, and the billing device executes the viewer billing process. Advertisers are also charged according to the number of times each advertisement content is provided.

"Example of viewing fee other than viewing fee"

In the above embodiment, the viewing fee is the viewing fee. However, the viewing fee may be other than the viewing fee, and may be, for example, a privilege given to the viewer by watching the broadcast. In this case, the viewer does not pay for the viewing, but rather receives it.

Fig. 17 shows an example of a screen for the viewer to select the amount of advertisement provided as an advertisement provision form. In this example, the viewing price is a viewing privilege. The screen shows the number of advertisements at multiple stages. The free viewing service time is shown for each number. In this example, the viewer is given the privilege of being able to watch another program for free during the free viewing service time.

"Configuration to add advertising content before broadcast (1) J

In the above embodiment, the program content is sent to the receiving device without advertisement. Then, in the receiving device #j, the advertising content is added to the program content according to the set value of the advertisement providing amount. On the other hand, within the scope of the present invention, the advertisement content may be added in advance to the program content on the broadcast station side. Then, on the receiving device side, the advertisement content is deleted from the program content according to the set value of the advertisement provision amount. As a result, Notification amount will be adjusted.

FIG. 18 shows the configuration of the system of the present embodiment. Compared with the system of FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, a program broadcasting device with advertisement 11 is provided. The advertisement-attached broadcasting apparatus 11 has the functions of the program broadcasting apparatus and the advertisement broadcasting apparatus shown in FIG. 5, and further has a program advertisement synthesizing section 18. The program advertisement synthesizing unit 18 synthesizes the advertisement content with the program content. Referring to FIG. 6 described above, advertisement provision candidate locations are set for the program, and each candidate location is provided with an advertisement ID. The advertisement content corresponding to the advertisement ID is read from the storage unit 22 and inserted into a corresponding portion of the program content. The program signal with advertisement thus synthesized is sent to the receiving device 7 via the satellite 5.

In the receiving device 7, the program signal with the advertisement is written in the storage device 48. As a feature of this embodiment, the provision processing section 58 is provided with an advertisement deletion processing section 80 corresponding to the provision amount. The advertisement deletion processing unit 80 refers to the advertisement provision amount set by the advertisement provision amount setting unit 56. Then, the advertisement added to the program content is deleted, and the amount of advertisement in the program is made to match the set value. Here, the advertisement content is deleted in order from the advertisement providing candidate having the lower priority.

By the processing of the advertisement deletion processing unit 80, the number 1_content to which the advertisement content of the set advertisement provision amount is added is obtained. This program content is output using the display 42 and the speaker 44.

Note that the above-described configuration in which the advertisement is deleted on the receiving side is also applicable to other embodiments described later. That is, the broadcast station adds the advertisement content covering a plurality of advertisement provision modes to the program content. Then, on the receiving device side, the advertising content corresponding to the advertisement providing mode selected by the viewer is left, and the other advertising content is deleted.

"Configuration to add advertising content before broadcast (2)"

Next, another configuration example in which advertisement content is added to program content before broadcasting will be described. In this configuration, a program signal to which different amounts of advertisements are added is broadcast using a plurality of channels. The receiving device receives and outputs a channel program signal corresponding to the amount of advertisement provided by the viewer. FIG. 19 shows the configuration of the system of this embodiment. Also in this system, a program advertisement synthesizing unit 18 is provided in the broadcast program with advertisement 11. As a feature of the present embodiment, the program advertisement synthesizing unit 18 generates a plurality of different program signals. Different amounts of advertising content are added to these program signals. For example, four program signals are generated corresponding to the four levels of advertisement numbers shown in FIG. No advertisement is added to one program signal. These program signals having different advertisement addition amounts are sent to the receiving device 7 using different channels.

In the receiving device 7, the program signal with the advertisement is written in the storage device 48. As a feature of the present embodiment, the provision processing unit 58 is provided with a channel setting unit 82 corresponding to the provision amount. The channel setting unit 82 refers to the advertisement provision amount set by the advertisement provision amount setting unit 56. Then, the program signal of the channel corresponding to the set value of the advertisement provision amount is read from the storage device 48 and output using the display 42 and the speaker 44. '

In the case of recording and viewing, the amount of advertisement provided may be set at the stage of recording. In this case, only the data of the channel corresponding to the set advertisement providing amount may be received and recorded. Also, in the case of on-time viewing, only the data of the necessary channels need to be received and output.

The above-described configuration in which a channel is selected on the receiving side is also applicable to other embodiments described later. That is, a plurality of advertisement-attached program signals corresponding to a plurality of advertisement providing modes are created on the broadcast station side. These program signals are sent to the receiving device. On the receiving device side, a program signal of a channel corresponding to the advertisement providing mode selected by the viewer is output.

Further, with the above configuration, the present invention can be applied to analog broadcasting, although there is a disadvantage of using a plurality of channels. Thus, the present invention may be applied to analog broadcasting to the extent possible.

Embodiment 2>

In the above embodiment, the amount of advertisement provided was changed as an advertisement provision form. In the present embodiment, the advertisement display form is further changed as the advertisement provision form. The advertisement display mode is a state when the advertisement content is displayed on the screen. In this embodiment, It is possible to switch between a cut-off display mode and a partial display mode. The interruption display mode is a mode in which the program is interrupted and only the advertisement is provided. The interruption display mode is a mode in which an advertisement is inserted into a program, which is mainly described in the above-described embodiment, and corresponds to a conventional television commercial. On the other hand, the partial display mode is a mode in which an advertisement is displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting a program, and is typically equivalent to a banner advertisement. The partial display mode may be a mode in which a commercial is displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting the program.

FIG. 20 shows the broadcast system of the present embodiment. Compared to the system of FIG. 5, an advertisement display mode setting unit 55 is added to the receiving device 7. Other configurations are basically the same as those in FIG. 5, and detailed description is omitted.

In the present system, the advertisement broadcasting device 20 broadcasts (for one advertisement target) both the advertisement content for interruption display and the advertisement content for partial display. These advertisement contents are stored in the advertisement content storage unit 50 of the receiving device 7. In addition, the configuration setting information generation unit 24 (functioning as the broadcast support device of the present invention) of the advertisement broadcasting device 20 generates both the configuration setting information for the interrupted display and the configuration setting information for the partial display. I do.

The configuration information for the interrupted display has already been described with reference to Fig. 6, and the advertisement providing candidate locations along the time lapse direction, the priority order of each candidate location, and the advertisement specified to be provided for each candidate location , including. On the other hand, the configuration setting information for partial display has already been described with reference to Fig. 16, and it is assumed that the banner advertisement is provided on the screen, the priority order of each candidate location, and the provision of each candidate location Includes designated ads and.

These configuration information are sent to the program broadcasting device 10. In the program broadcasting device 10, the configuration setting information adding section 14 adds configuration setting information to the program broadcast signal. Then, the broadcast signal is broadcast. The program broadcast signal is stored in the program content storage device 48 of the receiving device 7.

In the receiving device 7, after the program is set by the provided program setting unit 54, the advertisement display mode setting unit 55 sets the advertisement display mode. Further, the advertisement provision amount setting unit 56 sets the advertisement provision amount. In the present embodiment, these processes are executed simultaneously.

FIG. 21 is an example of a screen used by a viewer to select an advertisement display mode and an advertisement provision amount. This screen is displayed on the display 42 by the setting sections 55, 56. Is shown. The number of advertisements in multiple stages is indicated for each of the interrupted display and partial display. The viewing fee corresponding to each number of advertisements is also displayed. The viewer uses the input device 40 to select a desired combination of the display mode and the number of advertisements. In accordance with the selection, the setting units 55 and 56 set the advertisement display mode and the advertisement provision amount, respectively. The provision processing unit 58 provides the program content and the advertisement content to the viewer according to the set advertisement display form and the set advertisement provision amount. First, configuration setting information on the set advertisement display mode is referred to. According to the configuration information, the advertisement content of the set advertisement provision amount is read from the storage device 50 and added to the program content. The processing of this part is the same as in the above-described embodiment.

The viewing result record processing unit 62 writes the viewing result information of the program content and the advertising content in the viewing result storage unit 64. As described above, the viewing result information includes the program ID of the viewed program content, the amount of advertisement provided at the time of viewing each program, and the advertisement ID of the advertisement content provided with each program. Further, the viewing result information includes the selected advertisement display mode. The viewing result notifying section 66 periodically reads the viewing result information and transmits it to the charging device 30.

In the viewer's advertiser charging device 30 (charging device 30), the viewing result information is written in the viewing result database 33. The viewer charging processing unit 34 uses the viewing result information to charge a viewing fee to the viewer based on the amount of advertisement provided and the form of advertisement display. The program that the viewer has watched and the amount of advertisement provided by the program are required. Then, a viewing fee corresponding to the amount of advertisement provided is charged. At this time, different fees are charged depending on the viewing display format. The billing information is written in the viewer billing database 35. On the other hand, the advertiser charging processing unit 36 charges the advertiser for the advertisement fee based on the amount of advertisement provided and the advertisement display form using the viewing result information. The viewing result information indicates the advertising content provided in each program. Therefore, the number of times each advertisement content is provided is calculated periodically. Based on the viewing result information obtained from all viewers, the total number of provisions in the broadcasting system is obtained. At this time, the number of provisions in each viewing / display mode is required. The relationship between the number of times the advertisement content is provided and the advertisement fee is determined for each viewing and display mode. Based on this fee standard, a fee corresponding to the number of provisions is charged. The advertising fee is written in the advertiser billing database 37 in association with the advertiser. As described above, in the present embodiment, the advertisement display mode and the viewing fee change in conjunction with each other, whereby it is possible to provide a viewing mode that meets the wishes of the viewer, and it is possible to improve serviceability. Also, by changing both the advertisement display form and the advertisement provision amount, it is possible to appropriately realize the wishes of the viewer.

Further, according to the present embodiment, by providing the charging device, it is possible to reliably perform the process of charging the viewing fee and the advertising fee corresponding to the variably set notification providing mode.

In the present embodiment, the advertisement display mode and the advertisement provision amount are selected on one screen, but they may be selected on separate screens. Either parameter may be determined first.

Further, as a modification of the present embodiment, the selection of the amount of advertisement provided by the viewer may be abolished. In this case, provided advertisements and provided positions may be determined for each advertisement display mode. In short, the amount of advertisement provided may be fixed independently of the viewer's selection.

In another modification, both the interrupted display mode and the partial display mode may be selected by the viewer. For example, in the screen of FIG. 21, the number of advertisements belonging to the interrupted display form and the number of advertisements belonging to the partial display form are selected one by one. During program output, a banner advertisement is displayed, and the program is interrupted at the set location and a commercial is displayed. In this case, the viewing fee is set to a low price whenever one of the advertisement display modes is selected.

In the above embodiment, the amount of advertisement provided was changed as an advertisement provision form. In the present embodiment, the advertisement allocation form is further changed as the advertisement provision form. Advertising allocation forms include the placement and distribution of advertising content. Here, centralized allocation and decentralized allocation are set as advertisement allocation forms. With centralized allocation, advertising content is provided intensively at specific locations in the program content. With distributed allocation, advertising content is distributed to more locations than centralized allocation.

FIG. 22 shows a broadcasting system of the present embodiment. Compared to the system of FIG. 5, an advertisement allocation mode setting unit 57 is added to the receiving device 7. Other configurations are basically This is the same as FIG. 5, and a detailed description is omitted.

In the present embodiment, as in the above-described embodiment, the configuration setting information generation unit 26 of the advertisement broadcasting device 20 generates configuration setting information, that is, information for controlling the advertisement providing mode on the receiving side. However, as a feature of this embodiment, information for controlling the advertisement allocation form is added to the form setting information.

FIG. 23 shows an example of the configuration information. As illustrated, configuration setting information for distributed allocation and configuration setting information for centralized allocation are generated for one program content.

The configuration setting information for split allocation has already been described with reference to Fig. 6, and the advertisement provision candidate locations along the time lapse direction, the priority order of each catching location, and the advertisement specified to be provided for each candidate location And The configuration setting information for centralized allocation has a significantly smaller number of candidate locations for advertisement provision than the distributed allocation. Candidate locations are set at the top, end and middle of the program. The intermediate candidate location is, for example, a soccer halftime position.

The configuration information in FIG. 23 is sent to the program broadcasting device 10. In the program broadcasting device 10, the configuration setting information adding section 14 adds configuration setting information to the program broadcast signal. Then, the broadcast signal is broadcast. The program broadcast signal is stored in the program content storage device 48 of the receiving device 7.

In the receiver 7, after the program is set by the provided program setting unit 54, the advertisement provision amount setting unit 56 sets the advertisement provision amount. Further, the advertisement allocation mode setting section 57 sets the advertisement allocation mode. In the present embodiment, these processes are executed simultaneously.

Figure 24 is an example of a screen used by the viewer to select the amount of advertisement provided and the form of advertisement allocation. This screen is displayed on the display 42 by the setting units 56 and 57. The number of advertisements in multiple stages is displayed. For each number of advertisements, the viewing fee for distributed allocation and the viewing fee for centralized allocation are displayed. The viewer selects a desired combination of the number of advertisements and the allocation with reference to the viewing fee. According to this selection, the setting units 56 and 57 set the advertisement provision amount and the advertisement allocation form, respectively.

The provision processing unit 58 executes the program according to the set advertisement provision amount and the advertisement allocation form. Provide content and advertising content to viewers. First, configuration setting information corresponding to the set advertisement allocation configuration is referred to. According to the configuration information, the advertisement content of the set advertisement provision amount is read from the storage device 50 and added to the program content. The processing of this part may be the same as in the above-described embodiment.

The viewing result record processing unit 62 writes the viewing result information of the program content and the advertising content into the viewing result storage unit 64. As described above, the viewing result information includes the program ID of the viewed program content, the amount of advertisement provided at the time of viewing each program, and the advertisement ID of the advertising content provided with each program. Further, the viewing result information includes the selected advertisement allocation mode. The viewing result notifying section 66 periodically reads the viewing result information and transmits it to the charging device 30.

In the viewer / advertiser charging device 30 (charging device 30), the viewing result information is written in the viewing result database 33. The viewer charging processing unit 34 uses the viewing result information to charge a viewing fee to the viewer based on the amount of advertisement provided and the form of advertisement allocation. The program that the viewer has watched and the amount of advertisement provided by the program are required. Then, a viewing fee corresponding to the amount of advertisement provided is charged. At this time, different fees are charged depending on the viewing allocation mode. The billing information is written in the viewer billing database 35. On the other hand, the advertiser charging processing unit 36 charges the advertiser based on the amount of advertisement provided and the form of advertisement allocation using the viewing result information. The viewing result information indicates the advertising content provided in each program. Therefore, the number of times each advertisement content is provided is calculated periodically. Based on the viewing result information obtained from all viewers, the total number of provisions in the broadcasting system is obtained. At this time, the number of provisions in each advertisement allocation form is required. That is, the number of times provided as part of the diversified provision and the number of times provided as part of the centralized provision are required. The relationship between the number of times the advertisement content is provided and the advertisement fee is determined for each viewing allocation mode. Based on this fee standard, a fee corresponding to the number of provisions is charged. The advertising fee is written in the advertiser billing database 37 in association with the advertiser.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the advertisement allocation mode and the viewing fee are linked and changed, whereby a viewing mode that meets the viewer's wish can be provided, and the serviceability can be improved. Also, by changing both the advertisement allocation form and the amount of advertisements provided, It is possible to appropriately realize the wishes of the person.

Further, according to the present embodiment, by providing the charging device, it is possible to reliably execute the process of charging the viewing fee and the advertising fee for the variably set advertisement providing mode.

In the present embodiment, the advertisement allocation mode and the advertisement provision amount are selected on one screen, but they may be selected on separate screens. Either parameter may be determined first.

Further, in the present embodiment, the advertisement is equally twisted at a plurality of advertisement providing locations, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The number of advertisements may differ between providing locations. This point is the same throughout the other embodiments.

Also, as a modification of the present embodiment, the selection of the amount of advertisement provided by the viewer may be abolished. In this case, the advertisement to be provided and the placement may be determined for each advertisement display form. In short, the amount of advertisement provided may be fixed independently of the viewer's selection.

Also, the control of the advertisement allocation mode can be applied to partial display advertisements (banner advertisements). For example, the balance between the number of banners in the first half of a program and the number of banners in the latter half is changed. The viewing fee is determined depending on whether the advertising effect is higher in the first half or the second half of the program. When the advertising effect in the latter half of the program is high, the viewing fee is set lower as the number of banners in the latter half increases. Advertisers are charged higher advertising fees for lower viewing fees.

Further, the advertisement allocation mode and the above-described advertisement display mode may be changed by one receiving device according to the selection of the viewer. Furthermore, all of the advertisement allocation mode, the advertisement display mode, and the advertisement provision amount may be changed by one receiver according to the viewer's selection.

Embodiment 4>

In the various embodiments described above, the broadcast providing service has been described. Originally, conventional broadcasts were originally paid broadcasts, for which a viewing fee was charged, or free broadcasts, in which advertisements were provided in relatively large quantities, and the form of providing advertisements was unilaterally determined by the broadcast transmitter. Therefore, according to the present invention, there is obtained a great advantage that the viewer can balance the advertisement providing form and the viewing price by himself. However, the present invention may be applied to a content providing service other than broadcasting. FIG. 25 shows the content providing system of the present embodiment. The content providing system 101 includes a content transmitting device 103 and a content receiving device 107, which correspond to the broadcast station and the broadcast receiving device in FIG. 1, respectively. The content transmitting device 103 and the content receiving device 107 are communicably connected. The communication means is, for example, a public line, but is not limited thereto, and any communication means can be applied. The communication means may of course be wired or wireless.

The content transmitting device 103 transmits the digital content to the content receiving device 107. The content transmission device 103 includes a transmission device 110 to be added, an advertisement transmission device 120, and a provider / advertiser billing device 130, which are respectively the program broadcast device and the advertisement broadcast device shown in FIG. And viewers · Supports advertiser billing devices. The addition target transmission device 110 transmits the advertisement addition target content. The content to which the advertisement is added is, for example, a communication-based game content or a communication-capacity content. The former game content is typically provided for a game in which multiple terminals cooperate using communication with a server. The content to which the advertisement is added is not limited to the above, and may be, for example, navigation content. Navigation content is provided to vehicles in connection with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) technology, and is traffic-related information such as traffic jams. In this case, wireless communication is used.

The advertisement transmitting device 120 transmits the advertisement content. As described in the above embodiment, the addition target transmitting device 110 and the advertisement transmitting device 120 may be integrated. Also, the addition target transmission device 110 and the advertisement transmission device 120 may be provided at different places. This is the same in the relationship between these elements and the charging device 130.

The content receiving device 107 receives the advertisement addition target content and the advertisement content, adds the advertisement content to the advertisement addition target content, and provides them. Either or both of the contents may be provided after they are stored, or may be provided on-time (in real time). Output devices such as a display and a speaker are used to provide the content.

As a feature of the present embodiment, the advertisement providing form is set according to the selection of the recipient, According to the set advertisement providing form, the advertisement content is provided together with the content to be added with the advertisement (providing form setting section and providing processing section). The advertisement providing forms to be set are “advertising amount”, “advertising display form” and “ad distribution form”. One of these may be changed, or a plurality may be changed (all three may be used). Since each providing form has already been described in detail, description thereof will be omitted. Next, the provided consideration will be described. The offer consideration is set differently depending on the above-mentioned advertisement offer form. The offer consideration is typically an offer fee. However, the provision consideration is not limited to the provision fee, and may be, for example, a privilege given by receiving the advertisement. As described above, the provision fee and the provision fee correspond to the above-mentioned viewing fee and the viewing fee. In the present embodiment, the provision fee is collected as follows.

The content receiving device 107 sends the content providing result information on the receiving device side to the content transmitting device 103. The content transmission device 103 executes a charging process for the provider and a charging process for the advertiser using the provided record information of the provider / advertiser. In this charging process, a provision fee corresponding to the advertisement provision mode set on the receiving side is charged. As described above, charging apparatus 130 may be provided separately from other transmitting apparatuses. In addition, the communication means of the content transmission and the communication means of the provided result information may be common or separate.

The various embodiments and applications described in connection with broadcasting are also applicable here. That is, the configurations shown in FIGS. 5, 12, and 18 and other related configurations may be applied to a system for providing content such as game contents. In this case, the program content is replaced with the content to which the advertisement is added (game, karaoke, etc.), the broadcasting device is replaced with the transmitting device, and the viewer is replaced with the receiver. As described above, in the present embodiment, the relationship between the advertisement provision mode and the provision consideration can be independently changed by the recipient. The recipient can select an appropriate form of advertisement provision and provision compensation according to the individual's thinking and situation. Therefore, the demands of the recipient can be appropriately reflected, and the serviceability can be improved.

As is apparent from the above description, the main effect of the present invention is that the advertisement provision form and the viewing fee change in conjunction with each other, thereby providing a viewing form that meets the wishes of the viewer, Serviceability can be improved.

As described above, the present invention has been described using the embodiment, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. Various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the description of the claims that the embodiments with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The contents of all patent and bibliographic references explicitly cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference. In addition, the entire contents described in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-159595, which is the application on which the priority claim of the present application is based, are incorporated herein by reference. Shall be

Industrial use individual

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention is useful as a technology for providing digital data of program contents and digital data of advertisement contents mainly in digital broadcasting, and particularly useful as a technology for reflecting the needs of viewers in the form of providing broadcasting. .

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A broadcast providing method for providing advertisement content data to a viewer together with program content data,

A configuration setting process of receiving from the viewer a selection of an advertisement providing mode that is a mode of providing advertisement content, and setting an advertisement providing mode in accordance with the received selection; and an advertisement providing mode set by the configuration setting process A content providing process for providing the viewer with the advertisement content together with the program content from the receiver in accordance with the following, and a data process for imposing a viewing consideration on the program content to the viewer, which is set by the form setting process. A broadcast providing method characterized by comprising: a value process, which is a data process for imposing a different viewing price on the viewer in accordance with the advertisement providing format based on the advertisement providing format.

2. The broadcast providing method according to claim 1, wherein the viewing fee is a viewing fee of a pay broadcast.

3. The broadcast providing method according to claim 1, wherein the viewing price is a privilege given to a viewer who has viewed the broadcast.

4. The form setting process sets an advertisement provision amount, which is an amount of advertisement contents provided together with the program contents, in the same manner as the advertisement provision form,

2. The broadcast providing method according to claim 1, wherein, in the consideration processing, data processing is performed to impose a viewing consideration on the viewer in accordance with the advertisement providing amount.

5. The program content and the advertisement content group are separately acquired by a receiver, and the receiver adds the advertisement providing amount of the advertisement content from the advertisement content group to the program content. The broadcast providing method described in 1.

6. The broadcast providing method according to claim 4, wherein the changeable advertisement provision amount includes no provision amount when the advertisement content is not provided.

7. The form setting processing includes presenting the plurality of stages of advertisement provision amounts respectively associated with different viewing prices to the viewer, and selecting one of the plurality of stages of advertisement provision amounts in accordance with the viewer's selection. The broadcast providing method according to claim 4, wherein the setting is set.

8. From a plurality of candidate advertisement locations provided in advance in the program content, The broadcast providing method according to claim 4, further comprising a process of selecting an advertisement providing portion according to a provided amount, wherein the content providing process provides an advertisement content at the selected advertisement providing portion. .

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein priorities of the plurality of advertisement providing candidates are set differently, and the advertisement providing candidate having a higher priority is preferentially selected as the advertisement providing site. The broadcast provision method described.

10. The broadcast providing method according to claim 9, wherein the priority of each advertisement providing candidate portion is set differently according to the program content.

1 1. The form setting process sets an advertisement display form, which is a form of screen display of advertisement content, as the advertisement provision form,

2. The broadcast providing method according to claim 1, wherein, in the consideration processing, data processing for imposing a viewing consideration on the viewer in accordance with the advertisement display mode is performed.

1 2. Make the receiver acquire the program content and the advertisement content corresponding to the plurality of advertisement display forms in a separate manner, and add the advertisement content corresponding to the set advertisement display form to the program content by the receiver. The broadcast providing method according to claim 11, characterized in that:

13. The advertisement display mode includes a pause display mode in which an advertisement is displayed on a screen by interrupting a program, and a partial display mode in which an advertisement is displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting the program. 11. The broadcast providing method according to claim 11, wherein:

1 4. The configuration setting process sets, as the advertisement provision format, an advertisement allocation format including a distribution position and distribution of the advertisement content in the program content,

2. The broadcast providing method according to claim 1, wherein, in the consideration processing, data processing for imposing a viewing consideration on the viewer according to the advertisement allocation mode is performed.

15. The invention according to claim 14, wherein the receiver separately acquires the program content and the advertisement content group, and adds the advertisement content to the program content according to the set advertisement allocation mode. The broadcast provision method described.

16. The advertisement allocation form includes a centralized allocation that provides advertisement content intensively at a specific portion of the program content, a distributed allocation that provides advertisement cores at more distributed locations than the centralized allocation, 15. The release according to claim 14, wherein Delivery method.

17. The broadcast providing method according to claim 1, further comprising a process of maintaining a providing state when providing the advertisement content so that the advertisement content is viewed according to the advertisement providing mode.

5 18. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: a data processing for increasing a viewing consideration to be paid by the viewer in the consideration processing when the advertisement content is not viewed according to the advertisement providing mode. Broadcast delivery method.

,

19. The broadcast providing method according to claim 110, further comprising a step of intensively providing unprovided advertising content when receiving an instruction to stop viewing program content from said viewer.

20. A program broadcasting device for broadcasting program contents,

An advertisement broadcasting device for broadcasting advertisement content;

A broadcast receiving device that receives the program content and the advertisement content, and a broadcast system that provides the viewer with the advertisement content together with the program content,

A providing mode setting unit configured to variably set an advertisement providing mode in which the advertisement content is provided and associated with the viewing price of the program content in accordance with the viewer's selection; Providing the advertising content together with the program content from the broadcast receiving device to the viewer in accordance with the advertisement providing form.

A broadcasting system characterized by 20.

21. Further, information on provision of advertisement content in the broadcast receiving device is acquired, and viewing / paying of the pay broadcast as the viewing price and the fee are performed based on the advertisement provision mode implemented in the broadcast receiving device. 22. The broadcasting system according to claim 20, further comprising a viewer charging device for charging a viewer.

25 2 2. Further, information on provision of advertisement content in the broadcast receiving device is acquired, and an advertisement fee for each advertisement content is charged to an advertisement student based on an advertisement provision mode implemented in the broadcast receiving device. The broadcast system according to claim 20, further comprising an advertiser billing device.

23. A broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving program contents and advertisement contents, A provision mode setting unit that variably sets an advertisement provision mode, which is a form for providing advertisement content and is associated with the viewing price of the program content, according to a viewer's selection; and an advertisement set by the provision mode setting unit. A providing processing unit for providing the viewer with the advertising content along with the program content according to a providing mode;

A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising:

24. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 23, further comprising a notifying unit that notifies the outside of the set performance of the advertisement providing form.

24. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the viewing fee is a viewing fee of a pay broadcast.

26. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the viewing price is a privilege given to a viewer who has viewed the broadcast.

27. The provision mode setting unit sets, as the advertisement provision mode, an advertisement provision amount which is an amount of advertisement content provided together with the program content, and the advertisement provision amount is associated with the viewing price. 24. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 23, wherein:

'2 8. Includes an advertising storage unit that stores advertising content obtained separately from program content.

28. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 27, wherein the providing processing unit reads out the advertisement content of the advertisement providing amount from the advertisement storage unit and adds the advertisement content to the program content.

28. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the advertisement provision amount that can be set by the provision mode setting unit includes no provision amount when the advertisement content is not provided.

30. The provision mode setting unit according to claim 27, wherein the provision mode setting unit sets one of a plurality of stages of advertisement provision amounts corresponding to different viewing prices in accordance with the selection of the viewer. The broadcast receiving device according to the above.

3 1. The provision processing unit selects an advertisement provision place from a plurality of candidate advertisement provision places provided in advance in the program content in accordance with the amount of advertisement provision, and sets the advertisement content at the selected advertisement provision place. The broadcast according to claim 27, wherein the broadcast is provided.

3 2. The priorities of the plurality of advertisement provision candidate locations are set differently, and the provision processing unit preferentially selects an advertisement provision candidate location having a higher priority as an advertisement provision location. 31. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 31, wherein:

33. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 32, wherein the priority of each advertisement providing candidate portion is set differently according to the program content.

34. The provision mode setting unit is characterized in that, as the advertisement provision mode, an advertisement display mode which is a screen display mode of advertisement content is changed, and the advertisement display mode is associated with a viewing price. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 23, wherein

3 5. Includes an advertising storage unit that stores advertising content obtained separately from program content,

The advertisement storage unit stores a plurality of advertisement contents respectively corresponding to a plurality of advertisement display modes,

35. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 34, wherein the providing processing unit reads out the advertisement content corresponding to the set advertisement display form from the advertisement storage unit and adds the advertisement content to the program content.

36. The advertisement display mode includes a pause display mode in which an advertisement is displayed on a screen by interrupting a program, and a partial display mode in which an advertisement is displayed on a part of the screen without interrupting the program. 35. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 34.

37. The provision mode setting unit changes the advertisement allocation mode including the placement and distribution of advertisement content as the advertisement provision mode, and the advertisement allocation mode is associated with the viewing price. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 23, wherein

38. Includes an advertisement storage unit that stores advertisement content obtained separately from program content.

The providing unit may broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim ³ 7, characterized in that the addition is read from the advertisement accumulation section advertising content according to advertising allocation form is set to the program Konten'.

39. The above-mentioned advertisement allocation mode is divided into a centralized allocation that provides concentrated advertising content at a specific location of the program content, and an advertising core that is distributed at more distributed locations than the centralized allocation. 39. The method according to claim 37, further comprising: distributed allocation for providing content.

40. A method according to claim 23, further comprising a provision state maintaining unit for maintaining a provision state when providing the advertisement content so that the advertisement content is viewed in accordance with the advertisement provision form. The broadcast receiving device according to the above.

4 1. Includes a viewing-unsatisfied-judgment unit that detects that the viewing of the advertising content has not been achieved in accordance with the above-mentioned advertisement providing form, so that the viewing fee paid by the viewer when viewing is not achieved is increased. 23. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 23, wherein a price is set.

4. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the provision processing unit intensively provides unprovided advertising content when the _first viewer selects to stop providing program content. .

4 3. An advertisement storage unit for storing received advertisement content,

A delay storage unit for storing the received program content for delay provision,

When providing the program content on-time, the providing processing unit uses the program content in the delay storage unit to delay the program content in a state where the advertisement content read from the advertisement storage unit is delayed by the inserted time. 24. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the broadcast receiving apparatus provides the program content without skipping the program content.

44. A broadcast support device for supporting creation of broadcast data of program content, including a configuration setting information generating unit configured to generate configuration setting information to be added to broadcast data, wherein the configuration setting information is transmitted to a broadcast receiving side. A broadcast support apparatus characterized in that when providing advertisement content together with program content, the information is information for changing an advertisement provision mode in which the advertisement content is provided in accordance with the selection of the viewer.

45. The broadcast support device according to claim 44, wherein the configuration setting information includes information for varying an amount of advertisement provided, which is an amount of advertisement content provided with the program content.

46. The configuration information includes a plurality of advertisements provided in advance in the program content. The broadcast support according to claim 45, wherein information on the candidate location is included so that the broadcast receiving side can select an advertisement providing location from the plurality of advertisement providing candidate locations in accordance with the amount of advertisement provided. apparatus.

47. The broadcasting support according to claim 44, wherein the configuration setting information includes information for changing an advertisement display mode, which is a screen display mode of the advertisement content.

4 8. The configuration information includes information for executing a break display for interrupting a program and displaying an advertisement on a screen, and executing a partial display for displaying an advertisement on a part of a screen without interrupting a program. The broadcast support apparatus according to claim 47, further comprising information for performing the operation. 49. The broadcasting support system according to claim 44, wherein the configuration setting information includes information for changing an advertisement allocation configuration including a provision position and distribution of advertisement content.

50. The configuration information includes information on the location where the centralized allocation for providing the advertising content in the program content should be performed intensively, and distributed information for providing the advertising content in more distributed locations than the centralized allocation. 49. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 49, further comprising information on a location where allocation is to be performed.

5 1. A viewer billing device for charging a viewer for a viewing fee for program content, which is a broadcast receiving device in which an advertisement providing form of an advertisement content provided with the program content is changed according to a viewer's selection. A viewing result acquisition unit that acquires viewing result information of program content and advertising content in the broadcast receiving device; and, using the viewing result information, a viewing fee based on an advertisement providing mode implemented in the broadcast receiving device. A viewer charging processing unit for charging the viewer,

A viewer billing device comprising:

5 2. An advertiser billing device that charges an advertiser for an advertisement fee when the advertisement content is provided to the viewer together with the program content,

A viewing result acquisition unit that acquires viewing result information of program content and advertisement content in the broadcast receiving device from a broadcast receiving device in which an advertisement providing form of the advertising content provided with the program content is changed according to a viewer's selection. Based on the advertisement providing mode implemented by the broadcast receiving device using the viewing result information. An advertiser billing processing unit that bills the advertiser based on the

An advertiser billing device comprising:

5 3. A recording medium storing a computer-executable program used to provide program content and advertisement content to a viewer, wherein the program is:

A process for variably setting an advertisement providing mode when providing advertisement content, wherein the viewer selects the advertisement providing mode in which the viewing price of the program content is set differently according to the advertisement providing mode. Receiving, the computer sets the advertisement providing mode according to the received selection,

A computer-readable recording medium that is executed by the computer.

54. The computer according to claim 53, wherein the program causes the computer to change an advertisement provision amount, which is an amount of advertisement content provided together with program content, as the advertisement provision form. A readable recording medium. 55. The computer-readable computer according to claim 53, wherein the program causes the computer to change an advertisement display mode, which is a screen display mode of advertisement content, as the advertisement providing mode. recoding media.

56. The computer-readable computer according to claim 53, wherein the program causes the computer to change an advertisement allocation form including a provision position and distribution of advertisement content as the advertisement provision form. recoding media.

5 7. A content providing method for providing advertisement content to a recipient together with advertisement addition target content,

A mode setting process of receiving a selection of an advertisement providing mode, which is a mode of providing advertisement content, from the recipient, and setting an advertisement providing mode according to the received selection;

Content providing processing for providing advertisement content together with the advertisement addition target content to the provider according to the advertisement providing mode set by the configuration setting processing; and imposing a charge for providing the advertisement addition target content on the provider. Providing data based on the advertisement providing form set by the form setting processing. A value process, which is a data process for imposing a different offer consideration on the recipient depending on the form;

A content providing method comprising:

58. The form setting process sets, as the advertisement provision form, an advertisement provision amount that is an amount of advertisement content provided together with the advertisement addition target content, and the consideration processing includes a process in accordance with the advertisement provision amount. 58. The content providing method according to claim 57, wherein data processing for imposing a provision consideration on the recipient is performed.

59. The form setting process sets an advertisement display form which is a form of display of advertisement content as the advertisement provision form,

58. The content providing method according to claim 57, wherein, in the consideration processing, data processing is performed in which a provision consideration according to the advertisement display form is imposed on the recipient.

60. The form setting processing sets an advertisement allocation form including provision and distribution of advertisement content in the advertisement addition target content as the advertisement provision form, and the consideration processing corresponds to the advertisement allocation form. 58. The content providing method according to claim 57, wherein data processing for imposing a provision consideration on the recipient is performed. 6 1. An addition target transmitting device for transmitting the advertisement addition target content,

An advertisement transmission device that transmits advertisement content;

A content providing system that includes the advertisement addition target content and the content that receives the advertisement content, and provides the advertisement content to the recipient together with the advertisement addition target content;

A providing mode setting unit configured to variably set an advertisement providing mode, which is a mode for providing an advertisement content and is associated with a provision price of the content to be added with an advertisement, according to the selection of the recipient; A content providing system for providing an advertisement content from the content receiving device to the recipient along with the advertisement addition target content according to the advertisement provision mode set by the method.

6 2. A content receiving device that receives the content to be added with the advertisement and the advertisement content,

In the form of providing advertising content, A provision mode setting unit that variably sets the associated advertisement provision mode according to the selection of the recipient;

And a providing processing unit for providing the advertisement content to the recipient together with the advertisement addition target content according to the advertisement providing mode set by the providing mode setting unit.

6 3. The provision mode setting unit sets, as the advertisement provision mode, an advertisement provision amount, which is an amount of advertisement content provided together with the content to be added with the advertisement, and associates the advertisement provision amount with the provision consideration. The content receiving device according to claim 62, wherein:

64. The provision mode setting unit is characterized in that the advertisement provision mode changes an advertisement display mode which is a screen display mode of advertisement content as the advertisement provision mode, and the advertisement display mode is associated with a provision fee. The content receiving device according to claim 62, wherein

65. The provision mode setting unit, as the advertisement provision mode, changes an advertisement allocation mode including a distribution position and a distribution of advertisement content, and the advertisement allocation mode is associated with a provision fee. The content receiving apparatus according to claim 62, wherein

6 6. A recording medium storing a program executable by a computer used to provide the content to be added with the advertisement and the advertisement content to the recipient,

The program is

This is a process of variably setting an advertisement providing mode when providing advertisement content, wherein the provision of the content to be added with an advertisement is set differently according to the advertisement providing mode. A computer-readable recording medium characterized by causing the computer to execute a process of setting an advertisement providing mode according to the received selection received by the computer from a user.